more Dalek-like, and she eventually unites with the Dalek, who bargains for the use of a time travel technology, with Earth as the bargaining chip. It is revealed that Kate is a form of Dalek-human hybrid, the result of an attempt by Daleks who came to Earth millennia earlier (because of the Time War) and injected a "Dalek Factor" into humanity. However, only a few individuals retained it in the present day. With encouragement from Rose and the Doctor, Kate's human personality manages to reassert itself against the Dalek influence and she destroys the Dalek, returning to her pre-accident self. Continuity The time travel technology the Dalek demands from the Doctor is a time ring, a device last seen in the Fourth Doctor serial, Genesis of the Daleks. In the novel, the Doctor has kept the ring in an old chest, in the TARDIS. It is unknown if this is the same one as Genesis, but it is generally accepted (due to its age, and the fact the Doctor has kept it from a previous adventure) that it is the same one (even though that time ring was apparently retrieved by the Time Lords shortly after returning the Doctor and his companions to the Nerva station in Revenge of the Cybermen). The concept of a Dalek factor originated in the Second Doctor serial The Evil of the Daleks. Since then it has become a staple for the Doctor Who brand. Unlike the previous Tenth Doctor novels, the exact placement of this story in the Tenth Doctor's chronology is uncertain. The Doctor Who Reference Guide places it between the episodes "Tooth and Claw" and "School Reunion" but it could also take place at any time between "The Age of Steel" and "Army of Ghosts". The idea of a Human-Dalek fusion was later reused in "Daleks in Manhattan". Whether the Human-Dalek hybrids from this book and the episode are related is unclear. The idea reappeared in "Asylum of the Daleks". See also Whoniverse References External links The Cloister Library - I Am a Dalek https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2021-01-01/doctor-who-new-years-daleks-bbc-america 2006 British novels 2006 science fiction novels Doctor Who novellas British science fiction novels Tenth Doctor novels Dalek novels Novels by Gareth Roberts (writer)